A highway drainage and exhaust system

ABSTRACT

Systems for receiving the noise and/or exhaust emmisions transmitted from motor vehicle exhaust outlet arrangements. The motor vehicle transmitter of noise and/or exhaust emmissions have a modified tail pipe arrangement arranged for close coupling and transmission of the noise and/or exhaust emmissions to receiving means for collecting and processing the noise and/or exhaust emmissions. The receiving means extends along the length of the highway and attenuates the received noise and/or collecting and passing the received exhaust emmissions to processing means for recovering or purifying the exhaust emmissions. The duct portion of the receiving means instead or also utilized to provide transmission of electric power to specially designed types of electrically powered motor vehicles along the highway and also provide guidance where it is so desired to instrument the vehicle and duct.

United States Patent [191 Gardner 1 Feb. 12, 1974 [76] lnventor: ConradO. Gardner, 22905 108 West, Edmonds, Wash. 98020 [22] Filed: Sept. 30,1971 [211 App]. No.: 185,293

Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-in-part of Ser. No.14,300, Feb. 26, 1970, Pat. NO. 3,610,360, which is acontinuation-in-part of Ser. No. 545,117, April 25, 1966, Pat. NO.3,503,188.

[52] US. Cl. 404/2 [51] Int. Cl E011 5/00 [58] FieldofSearch..94/1,2,31,31.1,3l.1E; 404/1, 4, 2

[ 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,434,267 3/1969 .laschin404/4 X 428,342 5/1890 Kahler 94/2 X 820,945 5/1906 Booraem.. 4/31.1 X632,973 9/1899 Spring 94/31 x 3,263,577 8/1966 Hiller 94/31.3 X

u J1 a 1/ H150; F 52 23 Prince 94/1 R Lum 94/1 R Primary ExaminerNile C.Byers, Jr.

[57] ABSTRACT Systems for receiving the noise and/or exhaust emmisionstransmitted from motor vehicle exhaust outlet arrangements. The motorvehicle transmitter of noise and/or exhaust emmissions have a modifiedtail pipe arrangement arranged for close coupling and transmission ofthe noise and/or exhaust emmissions to receiving means for collectingand processing the noise and- /or exhaust emmissions. The receivingmeans extends along the length of the highway and attenuates thereceived noise and/or collecting and passing the received exhaustemmissions to processing means for re covering or purifying the exhaustemmissions. The duct portion of the receiving means instead or alsoutilized to provide transmission of electric power to specially designedtypes of electrically powered motor vehicles along the highway and alsoprovide guidance where it is so desired to instrument the vehicle andduct.

6 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTEUFEBIZISH 3,791,752

sum 2 0f 4 A HIGHWAY DRAINAGE AND EXHAUST SYSTEM This application forLetters Patent is a continuation in part of my application Ser. No.14,300 filed Feb. 26, 1970 which application now US. Pat. No. 3,610,360is a continuation in part of my application Ser. No. 545,117 filed April25, 1966 now US. Pat. No. 3,503,188.

The present invention relates to improvements in duct structures andvariations thereof disclosed in my aforementioned copending applicationSer. No. 14,300, now US. Pat. No. 3,610,360 more particularly to ductstructures positioned in the lane of a highway at a location disclosedtherein however here for the purposes disclosed therein and/or for thepurpose of powering and optionally guiding electrically powered vehiclesof special design as specifcally herein disclosed.

The virtues of electrically powered automobiles have been extolled bymany and their most important well recognized characteristics include:non-emmission of pollutants, noiseless operation, and various specialadvantages of the particular electric motor used in the particular powersystem, e.g., synchronous motor which has no brushes and thereforecontacts problems. Many of those who extoll the virtues are also quickto state the limitations of the energy source of the power plant viz.that present battery capability in terms of storage and rate of energyconversion out limit such vehicles to use as gold carts, fork lifts, anda few intra city low speed small range truck applications. As aconsequence, the development of the electric vehicle art is lulled to avirtual standstill everyone awaits the stress to be placed upon batterydevelopment or fuel cell innovation which of course absent some majorbreakthrough will not yield results bringing equivalent performance inelectric automobiles to I C (internal combustion) powered automobilesfor some years to come as predicated. The current major capitalinvestment in the I C (internal combustion powered) automobile will thushave its life extended until and unless battery and- /or fuel cellresearch provides a battery or fuel cell having the requiredcharacteristics necessary to provide equivalent electrical vehicleperformance acceptable to the consumer. In the years in the meantimeawaiting the ideal battery, the I C powered automobiles (the termautomobiles herein used in the dictionary sense meaning general purposehighway vehicles and including trucks and buses) will continue topollute the atmosphere and cause noise pollution perhaps at a lesserrate due to regulations increasing the quality of emmissions but thissavings being offset by the increasing numbers of I C vehicles. Thealternatives are well recognized and include increased and acceleratedbattery and fuel cell research by those business entities or foundationsnot having any interest in protecting or extending the life of presentcapital investment in I C vehicle ance state of the art on board powersource and then provide his electrically powered vehicle with all thepower he needs to go as fast and far as he wishes (limited by hiselectric motor characteristics only and not by his on board power sourcecharacteristics) to the point where he leaves the highway and proceedsto his parking lot at the office at the low speeds under his on boardelectrical power source limitations.

Exhaust noise transmitted via the outlets of exhaust pipes of ICvehicles currently in use has been attenuated to some extent upstream bythe muffler designers but where a great concentration of vehicles arefound a noise level measured in decibels exists which although tolerablefor short periods by persons in the region of these vehicles, becomesintolerable over long periods of time and can affect the thoughtprocesses and work performances of many persons.

It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a systemwhich may be coupled to I C motor vehicle exhaust outlets to attenuateexhaust noise and- /or purify exhaust emmissions transmitted therefromand/or power hybrid electric type motor vehicles.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide anelectric type motor vehicle capable of unlimited range which mayoptionally be guided automatically along the lane of a highway.

A further object of this invention is to provide a system forattenuating exhaust noise and/or purifying exhaust emmissions which maybe deployed in those particular areas or regions or traffic routes whereexhaust noise and/or exhaust emmissions from I C vehicles can reachundesirable levels due to heavy traffic concentration and/orpeculiarterrain and atmospheric conditions prevalent in some low lyingregions for example.

Still another significant feature of the present invention is to providea receiving system for purifying or recovering exhaust emmissions in theatmosphere above a highway surface which is operated automatically whenthe carbon monoxide or other emmissions pollutant level adjacent thehighway surface exceeds a predetermined level.

In addition to the previously set forth objects, the present inventionis arranged in such a manner that highway system modification costs areminimal for the I C or electric vehicle adaptation.

A further object realized in the following description is thesubstitution of a special electric powered vehicle for the I C vehiclewhich eliminates the type of planned or inherent obsolescence present inI C power plants and system which require the constant spark plugreplacements, tune-ups, valve jobs and replacements of other movingparts and instead utilizes the simple and quiet and non pollutingelectric motor which is light weight and hopefully can be removed forsubstitution much more quickly and easily than a 400 horsepower TCengine can Bep'mi'ea from an IC vehicle. 'It is hoped i that theinvestment in theelectric type vehicles herein disclosed would be moreof acne time investment with only the electric motor being substitutedfor a rebuilt one rather than the junking of the entire vehicle (as inthe I C car case) because of the great cost in having the entire enginepulled rebuilt and transmission work done. Inthis connection it must berecalled that with the series d.c. motor type vehicles there is no needfor an automatic transmission, the speed control being the control ofelectric power applied to the motor itself.

Further objects, advantages and features of the invention will becomeapparentto those skilled in the art upon the continued reading of thisdisclosure including the specification and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an end view of a motor vehicle having an exhaust outletarrangement shown in a closely coupled position to a system forreceiving and collecting and processing noise and exhaust emmissionstransmitted from the exhaust outlet which is embedded in the highway,the highway being shown in cross section;

FIG. 2 is a view in perspective of an exhaust outlet arrangement on theexhaust pipe extension of an I C motor vehicle showing details of thestructure utilized to obtain various degrees of motion and optionalclose coupling to the inlet grating portion of the receiving meansembedde in the highway;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the exhaust outlet arrangement on the end ofthe motor vehicle tail pipe shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a circuit for automatically detecting and controlling theexhaust processing means of FIG. 1 when carbon monoxide levels alongindividual lengths of the highway as determined by the individuallengths of the duct sections exceed a predetermined level;

FIG. 5 is a front view broken away and taken in section of an electricpowered vehicle showing automatic guidance features and a ductarrangement for coupling thereto showing means for guidance signalcoupling thereto along the length of the highway below the highwaysurface;

FIG. 6 is a rear view of the vehicle of FIG. 5 looking rearward from themid section showing the vehicle power receiving means coupled to theduct power transmitting means arranged below the highway surface;

FIG. 7 is a side view partially broken away and taken in section of thevehicle of FIG. 5 showing a means for decoupling the automatic guidancestructure of the vehicle shown in FIG. 5, or the power receiving meansof FIG. 6 when over highway surfaces not guidance and power instrumentedand the vehicle .is being powered by its on board power; 7

FIG. 8 is the rear view of another embodiment of an electric vehiclepower receiving arrangement and highway power transmitting structurecoupled thereto to transmit power to the vehicle;

FIG. 9 is a side view in detail of the power receiving arrangement shownin the automobile of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is an embodiment of an. electric automobile power and controlsystem schematic showing automatic power transfer features at d.c. orthree phase a.c. for inboard to outboard energy source switching andvice-versa;

FIG. 11 is another embodiment of electric powered automobile showingpower plant and control system schematic showing means for automatictransfer of power from inboard to outboard power source in this typeelectrically powered automobile system; and,

FIG. 12 is a three phase electrical power system for controlling thevehicles having three phase synchronous motors for travel at three phasesynchronous speed which varies along different portions of the highwayor fro powering electric vehicles of the type shown in FIG. 10- whenconnected to other suitable three phase power sources.

Turning now to FIG. 1, a main duct 11 capped at the highway surface 11in the same manner as is shown (with the same reference numerals in FIG.2 of U. S. Pat. application Ser. No; 545,117 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,503,188previously referred to. Lane markers 16 and 22 delineate a lane of thehighway upon which the motor vehicle 1 is travelling. Inlet means 23which comprises a grating is positioned at the center of the highway(midway between lane markers 16 and 22). Since the center of the grating23 is located equal distances from lane markers 16 and 22 there islittle possibility that the wheels of either side of the vehicle willtravel along the highway tracking on the grating. In changing laneshowever, the wheels of one side of the vehicle will cross over thegrating 23 and at'such time exhaust outlet 40 will not be located abovethe center grating 23. The width of grating 23 between lane markers 16and 22 should be sufficiently large that most motor vehicles with sidewheels straddling grating 23 and within lane markers 16 and 22 will havetheir exhaust outlets over the grating 23. The width of grating 23 wouldbe less than the distance between the inside dimension between sidewheel 41 and other side wheel 42, viz. less than 52 inches. The width ofgrating 23 should be however greater than the diameter of prior arttailpipes, viz. greater than 2 inches. With less than perfect trackingdue to imperfect driving exactly in the middle of the lane, the inletmeans must exceed two inches in width and must be less than the insidedimension (52 inches) between the twoside wheels at the front or rear ofthe vehicle if the vehicle is not to run along on the grating 23. i

The inlet grating 23 may be modified by providing the apertures thereofwith means for permitting passage of exhaust only into the systemwithout intake of outside air such as by tubes 27 with pressure valves28 blown open by exhaust emmissions as shown in FIG. 4 of theaforementioned application serial no. 545,117 now U.S. Pat. No.3,503,188 the details of which are incorporated herein by reference.Another means for maintaining a closed system would be by use of amembrane accross and under grating 23 which would pass only certainexhaust emmission components and trap out the outside air. Further meansand mechanisms which will make inlet means 23 a closed system willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art. The present system as shownin FIG. 1 isan open systemin the sense that exhaust emmissions directedfrom the exhaust outlet 40 freely flow through the inlet meanscomprising grating 23 into the main duct 11. However the present systemis a closed system in the sense that suction fan 15 leads receivedexhaust emmissions along the path represented by arrows 45 throughunidirectional flow control means 48 comprising a vertically suspendedtrapdoor into processing or utilization means 44 only when apredetermined exhaust emmission' ingredient level is exceeded asindicated by carbon monoxide detector 50. A detailed explanation of howsuction fan 15 is turned on by carbon monoxide detector 50 will followin the discussion of the control system of FIG. 4. The present system asshown in FIG. 1 is open from inlet means 23 to the upper and lower sidewall portions of main duct 11 which are lined with acoustical materials52 and 54 which have high sound absorbtive characteristics in the lowfrequency audio range from 0 to 5,000 cycles per second so thattheexhaust noise directed thereagainst is attenuated. The frequencypassband of exhaust noise extends beyond the range just mentioned,however results of frequency analysis of exhaust noise studies alreadymade indicate peak amplitude and sound pressure levels at frequencieswithin the above defined range See Handbook of Noise Control By Harris,published in 1957 by McGraw Hill Publishing Co., beginning at page 31-16). The listener during rush hour traffic hears the low pitched humor drone of many vehicles and this most disturbing frequency of noise isattenuated by accoustical materials 52 and 54 lining the upper and lowerside wall portions respectively of main duct 11. Materials such asfiberglass and as mentioned in the previously cited Handbook, felt areamong the materials which are capable of providing sound attenuation atexhaust frequencies within the audio rangeO to legand may be utilized forexample at 52 and 54 to line respectively the upper and lower side wallportions of main duct 11. Other materials which absorb sound over theaudio range 0 to 5,000 cycles may be selected for use at 52 and 54 bythose audio engineers familiar with the well known acousticalcharacteristics of sound absorbing materials and structures, the abovebeing given merely by way of example. It can thus be seen that thesystem of FIG. I is open to receive exhaust noise and to provideattenuation thereof and is yet closed to provide incresed efficiency inprocessing or purifying exhaust emmissions. Lower opposite side wallportions 54 slope downward and inward to form slot 63 at the bottom ofmain duct 11. Each length of duct 11 which runs parallel to and under alane of the highway, runs along the highway a distance not too long thatits volume cannot be processed by a single processing or utilizationmeans or that it cannot be exhausted efficiently by the side ductarrangement coupled thereto and leading to the processing or utilizationmeans. While there is here shown a single side duct 13 for exhausting aduct section it should be recognized that a plurality of ducts extendingfrom processing means 44 and fanning out therefrom to duct 11 may berequired if duct section 11 extends for example a plurality of carlengths. Each section of duct 11 is terminated by a common end platewhich also forms the wall of the beginning of the next adjacent run ofmain duct as denoted by the numeral 12 in FIG. 3 of the aforesaid patentapplication serial .no. 545,117 now U.S. Pat. No. 3,503,188. Side duct13 shown in FIG. 1 of this application and also in FIG. 3 of theaforementioned patent provides the passage from an individual run of themain duct 11 of exhaust emmissions received through inlet means 23 topro cessing or utilization means 44. Suction fan 15 in conjunction withunidirectional flow control means 48 in side duct l3 cause the flow ofemmissions along the flow path denoted by arrows 45. Processing orutilization means 44 may comprise an electrostatic precipitator of knowntype which may be utilized to remove particulate matter from the exhauststream 45. Other forms of processing of the exhaust emmissions to removeat least one pollutant and thus purify the stream before returning theremainder to the atmosphere may comprise utilization means whichutilizes one or more of the emmission products such as for example thecarbon monoxide which may be separated out by utilizing its specificweight characteristic or by other means and utilized with steam at about700 F. for minutes on wet mixtures of garbage deposited in theutilization means to rpovide useful petroluem like by products as knownin the art. It can thus be seen that the by products of imperfectcombustion present in the exhaust stream may be separated out sometimesas in the last mentioned example from the exhaust stream to be piped offto utilization means by the side ducts and be further utilized in otherprocesses at the highway site or remote therefrom when the side ducts 13are extended to provide further by products of substantial economicvalue. Such may not always be the case as for example where processingmeans 44 comprises an electrostatic precipitator and a by productrecovered is lead in a form which may or may not be of significantcommercial value in the recovered state. Suction fan 15' sucks theprocessed exhaust stream out of side duct 13 into the storm sewer means70 so that the processed exhaust may escape to the atmosphere through achimney stack or as shown through drain entrance means 71 which may be agrating at the edge of the lane of the highway where turnoff emmissionpollutants which may be made soluble in a liquid by some form ofprocessing at 44 may also be run off by passage into sewer means 70below fan means 15 and away through pipe 73. The contents of pipe 73 mayin such case be of value or further processed and the solution pipedback through a pipe (not shown) to processing means 44 in a closed loopprocess. By way of an illustrative example of such a recirculatingrecovery stream, the liquid could be simply water which is warmed by thefurther processing means to recover the carbon dioxide while cooled atthe processing means 44 to cause exhaust at 45 bubbled therethrough topass the carbon monoxide into the water. For other hydrocarbons etc.other solutions and combinations of processing means could be selectedfor recovery of specified exhaust components, solids being recoverableby filtering or other processes if desired. Further useful processingunit or unit combinations to remove or further utilize one or moreemmission components will be left to those skilled in the art, the aboveexample' being illustrative of the process only.

It can therefore be seen that the system of FIG. 1 provides noiseattenuation in the materials 52 and 54 which line and form the sidewalls of main duct 11 at least over a portion or over the mostobjectional and disturbing frequencies found disturbing to the human carby motor vehicles of the passenger car type. Other types of motorvehicles having objectionable noise outputs at other frequenciesfounddisturbing would require sound attenuating materials at 52 and 54 havingattenuating characteristics matching these other objectionablefrequencies.

The motor vehicle 1 transmits the emmissions and noise through outlet 40to the receiving means of the system whch includes inlet grating 23. Thetransmitting outlet 40 and the receiving means comprising inlet grating23 are closely coupled to provide maximum transfer of exhaust from thetransmitting outlet 40 to receiving grating 23. A nearly flushrelationship between exhaust outlet 40 and inlet grating 23 provides theclosest coupling possible since less than a nearly flush relationshipwith outlet 40 spaced further away from the inlet grating 23 would causeloss and escape of emmissions into the atmosphere rather than directionthrough the inlet grating 23 into the main duct 11 while more than anearly flush relationship flush or in contact) would cause friction,vibration of, and possible damage and/or destruction of the portion ofthe exhaust outlet arrangement adjacent to and carrying the outlet 40.The range between undesirable loose coupling outlet 40 too far away) anddirect contact includes the abovementioned nearly flush relationshipwhere most of the exhaust is directed from the outlet 40 through theinletgrating 23. For motor vehicles such as passenger automobiles theoutlet 40 should not be spaced further than 12 inches above the inletgrating 23 since the pressures at which the exhaust is propellled fromthe outlet 10 are not high enough to cause most of the exhaust to bedirected or coupled into the inlet grating 23 at distances exceeding 12inches. In the case of diesel powered trucks the exhaust can bepropelled a distance further and still mostly be caused to enter theinlet grating 23. A nearly flush relationship which provides effectivecoupling would exist where the spacing between outlet 10 and inlet means23 is thus less than 12 inches but not flush for the abovementionedreasons. In the abovementioned patent application no. 545,117 now U.S.Pat. No. 3,503,188 the nearly flush relationship necessary to direct anappreciable amount of the exhaust into the system was provided by anextension of the known tail pipe over to and down between the rearwheels to the nearly flush relationship with respect to the inletgrating. A further exhaust outlet arrangement 80 coupled to a known tailpipe 82 on a motor vehicle is shown in more detail in FIGS. 2 and 3 ofthis application which structure also provides a nearly flushrelationship of exhaust outlet 40 with inlet grating 23. Such couplingcan be selected at the option of the operator of the vehicle in theembodiments of FIGS. 2 and 3 shown in detail herein. The exhaust outletarrangement 80 has exhaust outlet 40 arranged in a plane parallel to theplane of the inlet grating 23 as was the exhaust outlet 10 shown in FIG.4 of the aforesaid patent. Exhaust outlet 40 in the motor vehicleexhaust outlet arrangement 80 shown herein in FIG. 1 and in more detailin FIGS. 2 and 3 is arranged to provide close coupling by the nearlyflush relationship with the inlet grating 23 as previously mentioned andis also arranged for positioning substantially midway between rearwheels 41 and 42 of motor vehicle 1, such location providing therequisite degree of coupling with the previously defined position of theinlet grating 23, viz. midway between the lane edges defined by the lanemarkers 16 and 22. Rear wheels 41 and 42 are thus in most instances notrequired to brake on inlet inlet grating 23 between him markers 16 and22 where in practicing the present invention the rear wheels 41 and 42would normally roll during braking and adequate traction would beprovided.

Shown in FIG. 1 at the edge of the highway between drain entrance means71 of storm sewer means 70 and curb 72 is display means 73 which isenergized when a detected pollutant-level is exceeded as detected bycarbon monoxide detector means 50. Display means 73 becomes lighted byenergization of the lamp inside when the concentration of vehicles at orpast detector means have dumped enough pollutants into main duct 11 toraise the carbon level to the energizing threshold of carbon monoxidedetector means 50. The system and circuit for energizing the lamps ofdisplay means 73 is shown in detail in FIG. 4 and hereinafter described.Display means 73 is exemplary of one form of utilization deviceresponsive to the pollutant level detected by detector means 50 which isrelatedby pollution level to the actual number of motor vehicles whichare travelling along ,the highway past detector means 50. Recalling theeach run of main duct 11 is provided with its detector means 50, sideduct arrangement 13 for coupling exhaust from main duct section 11 to aprocessing means 44, and suction fan for causing the exhaust captured bythe duct section 11 to be exhausted to the processing means 44, itshould be recognized that a plurality of such integral subsystemspositioned adjacent one another in end to end relationship for examplemake up a several mile run of the highway, the exact number per givenmile depending somewhat on design considerations of detectorsensitivity, suction fan and side duct cross sectional area size whichcan be tolerated and actual number of processing means which can beafforded per mile run of the lane of a highway. A theoretically optimumsystem viz. where duct 11 subsection length and width are equal and thedepth also of same dimension so that a cube in effect is exhausted withone of the side walls thereof comprising the side duct inlet wouldrequire an extremely large number of side ducts thereby increasing theexhaust lead off compexity or else a large number of processing meansone for each side duct which would make such implementation of thesystem unrealistic from an economic standpoint. It can thus be seen thatthere are a number of engineering tradeoffs, the paricular engineeringdesign thereof selected depending upon efficiencies desired in capturingthe exhaust and the amount of capital available for deploymentof thesystem placing limitations on the abovementioned theoretically nearideal arrangement. A utilization means responsive to each detector means50 of each run of main duct 11 of each subsystem may comprise instead ofdisplay means 73 a lamp on a control panel, a logic circuit in acomputer system where a plurality of these signals from the detectorsare utilized, e.g., an AND circuit where if enough signals from enoughdetectors are present the and circuit energizes and provides an outputsignal in response to the presence of all inputs (from the individualdetectors) which output signal can be further processed or utilized toturn on stop lights all along the respective lane subsections so that nomore pollution is permitted in the area.

A side duct 13 is shown in FIG. 1 coupling and serving a parallelsection of main duct 11 in the next adjacent lane of the highway in amanner which permits a single processing means44 of large capacity forcleaning or purifying exhaust polluted air to service parallel sectionsof main duct 11. and 11', the necessary number of side duct connectionsand exhaust fans also in this case required to be deployed.- Pipe 75 isseen in FIG. 1 to pass water 76 from slot 63 at the bottom of main duct11 and from the corresponding slot at the bottom of parallel duct 11'serving the adjacent parallel lane of the highway over to pipe 73 ofstorm sewer means which also collects storm water through drain entrancemeans 71 comprising a grating or other sewer inlet construction ifdesired. It will be recognized by those skilled in the art that thesystem embodiment shown in FIG. 1 may be modified for use by motorvehicles of types other than passenger cars such as, e.g., buses andtrucks having power systems which emmit pollutants.

It should be noted that walls 77 extend upward from the highway surfacealong the edges of inlet means 23. The height of each wall 77 in thecase of motor vehicles such as passenger cars utilizing the highwayshould not exceed approximately 1 inch and function as director meansfor exhaust into the inlet means and as indicator means such as lanemarkers 16 and 22 giving a warning to the passenger car I operator thathe has caused his motor vehicle wheels to cross over inlet 23 anddeviated from a path in the center of the lane of the highway withconsequent decoupling of his exhaust emmissions from the pollutionprevention system. The walls 77 would therefore indicate to a sleepydriver that he has deviated from his lane and constitute an additionalwarning and safety device over known raised lane markers 16 and 22 ofthe prior art. In effect then the side wheels of vehicles are seen fromFIG. 1 to track between walls 77 and lane markers 16 and 22, e.g., leftrear wheel 41 of vehicle 1 between lane marker 16 and raised wall 77 andright rear wheel 42 between the other wall 77 and right hand lane marker22. In the modified embodiment described where it is desired to haveaccess to processing means 44, such means are disposed while at thelevel of the highway immediately therebelow where the region below thelane of the highway may be used so that side duct length 13 may bereduced and the processing means 44 coupled closely thereto ascontrasted to the processing means 17,18, or/and 19 of FIG. 2 of theaforementioned application Ser. No. 545,117 now.U.S. Pat. No. 3,503,]88which is disposed at the level of the highway however immediatelythereabove. In either location, the processing means is easilyaccessible from the highway surface for cleaning and or serviving.

Referring now to FIG. 4 there is shown a partial block diagram andcircuit schematic depicting one embodiment of a system for energizingpollution control apparatus, e.g., elements of the system of the presentinvention according to information signals representative of pollutantlevels detected by detector means comprising detectors 50 distributed atsubstantially equal intervals along the lane of the highway viz. atbelow the highway surface levels in each duct 11 section, or controllingtraffic flow or providing such information on signals to otherutilization devices such as recording means for recording theseinformation signals or computer circuit means in computer circuits.

Shown in block 50 is the carbon monoxide detector also shown in FIG. 1position in main duct section 11. Carbon monoxide detectors whichindicate a predetermined level of carbon monoxide in the air termeddangerous level are well known and a known type may be utilized at 50such as for example carbon monoxide detector shown in U.S. Pat. No.3,445,669 to Jordon et al., which shows an output signal which energizesa relay coil in the collector circuit of the output stage of thedetector. Relay 110 shown in FIG. 4 herein is energized by the outputsignal from detector means 50 and energizing coil 111 corresponds to thecoil of relay 52 of FIG. 5 of Jordan et al. When a dangerous conditionof carbon monoxide is detected by detector 50, coil 111 is energized andrelay 110 is closed thereby closing the contacts of single pole singlethrow (S.P.S.T.) switches S1, S2, S3, and S4. Under dangerously highlevel carbon monoxide levels with relay 110 energized and switches S1,S2, S3, and S4 closed, the potential from alternating current (a.c.)source 112 is placed across the power terminals for processing means 44which may be an electrostatic precipitator thus turning it on and alsosuction fans 15 and 15. While source 112 may be US volts- 21.0. wheresuction fans 15 and 15' are of the 115 volts a.c. type, a higher sourcevoltage 112 may be utilized with correspondingly higher voltage fantypes 15 and 15'. Display means 73 which comprises a lamp is also of the115 volt type where source 112 is 1 15 volts ac. and is also energizedsince switch S1 is closed placing lamp 73 across source 112. Whileutilization means here at 73 is shown as a lamp to show motorists thatthe system is processing emmissions at dangerously high levels at thatpoint, utilization means at 73 may as discussed earlier may comprise aninput circuit or device in a computer responsive to the signal voltagedeveloped by the detector or a traffic control system information signalinput terminal or the input circuit of another type of monitoring systemaid ing in pollution or traffic control. Switch S5 is connected inseries with source 112 and is the main switch for placing the totalpollution control system into operation and which must be closed beforedetecting means 50 can control processing in the individual duct 11sections since switch controls the power applied by source 112 to theparallel connected components 73, 15, 15' and 44.

Processing means 44 as heretofore mentioned may, e.g., comprise anelectrostatic precipitator for removing particulates such as lead fromthe exhaust stream 45 or may comprise utilization means previouslymentioned for recovering and/or processing the exhaust stream toaccumulate products or by products of commercial value. As a furtherexample of a utilization means which could convert the exhaust stream ora portion thereof to a product of economic value, such means 44 couldcomprise a carbon monoxide to hydrogen converter for utilizing theseparated out carbon monoxide of the typeshown in U. S. Pat. No. 3 490872 to Fenton where a high yield of hydrogen is obtained from carbonmonoxide at mild temperature and pressure conditions. While thedisclosed motor vehicle embodiments show exhaust outlets arranged fordirect coupling of exhaust to highway structures for further processingor utilization, processing upsream of the outlet in the vehicle itselfis not to be excluded from the present system concept since in suchcases the present processing means 44 would either complement and/orsupplement such processing means on the vehicle thereby improving thepollution prevention of the same type and/or other types of pollutantsrespectively.

Turning now to FIG. 5 showing a front view in section of motor vehicleand highway it can be seen how duct 11 which is centered in the middleof the lane 21 of the highway and has exhaust removing side duct 13 andliquid removing side pipe 75 may be utilized with further modificationas shown in FIG. 5 to not only retain and process the emmissionsdeposited therein in outboard d.c. power sources and with automatictransfer features as shown in FIGS. and 11.

Turning now to FIG. 10 there is shown in block and schematic form anelectric motor vehicle power system utilizing d.c. to three phase energyconversion for supplying three phase energy to a three phase a.c.induction motor. The system of FIG. 10 provides excellent performancefrom the on-board power system but is however limited in range, howeveras shown utilizing automatic switching to d.c. or three phase a.c. powerwhen available from highway transmitting systems and also utilizingpower receiving systems coupled thereto as shown in FIGS. 6, 7, 8, or 9is capable of unlimited range.

FIG. 11 shows show in block and schematic form a power plant for anothertype motor vhehicle (here the M-37 army truck power system) howevermodified to provide off board power systems of the type shown in FIGS.6, 7, 8, and 9 in accordance with the teachings of the present inventionfor extending the range of operation of vehicles of this type.

Turning now to FIG. 12 there is shown a unique three phase powertransmission system which can be read with FIG. 6 wherein the samenumerals are utilized to denote corresponding structure in the system ofFIG. 12.

The foregoing discussion and description relating to preferredembodiments of the invention require the cooperative effort ofautomobile manufacturing companies and highway builders for mostsuccessful utilization of the arrangements and systems which aredisclosed for purposes of illustration and not in the limiting senseexcept as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In combination:

a highway;

a duct which runs parallel to and along the length of said highway; and,

means distributed continuously along said duct for attenutating noise,said means comprising material disposed belowthe highway surface andlining at least one inside wall of said duct, said material having soundabsorptive characteristics in the audio frequency range below 5,000cycles per second so that exhaust noise directed thereagainst isattenuated.

2. In combination:

a highway;

detector means for detecting a predetermined pollutant level at a pointalong said highway;

display means positioned above said highway surface;

said display means coupled to said detector means and responsive theretowhen said predetermined pollutant level is detected by said detectormeans; and, wherein said detector means comprises a plurality ofdetectors positioned below the surface of said highway, each of saidplurality of detectors positioned respectively in a plurality of ductsections of predetermined length extending consecutively along thelength of the highway,

3. In combination in the surface of a lane of a highway:

first means extending above the surface and along the length of thehighway;

second means extending above the surface and along the length of thhighway;

a depression extendingbelow said highway surface and extending betweensaid first and second means;

said depression arranged to run off water gathering on said highwaysurface between said first and second means;

said first and second means extending less than 1 inch above saidhighway surface and the cross sectional area of said depression isgreater than the cross sectional area of said first and second meanscombined; and,

said first means comprising a wall extending above said highway surface,said second means comprising a further wall extending above said highwaysurface, and said depression comprising a duct having outer wallsurfacescoextensive with the inner facing wall surfaces of said firstand second means.

4. The combination according to claim 3 wherein said first means, saidsecond means and said depressions are of substantially rectangular crosssection.

' 5. The combination of claim 3 wherein said depression extends a firstpredetermined distance below said highway surface and said first andsecond means extend a further predetermined distance above said highwaysurface and wherein said further predetermined distance is less thansaid first predetermined distance.

6. The combination of claim 3 wherein said first means, said secondmeans and said depression extend along axis parallel to the lane of saidhighway and at least a car length therealong where a car length equals20 feet.

1. In combination: a highway; a duct which runs parallel to and alongthe length of said highway; and, means distributed continuously alongsaid duct for attenutating noise, said means comprising materialdisposed below the highway surface and lining at least one inside wallof said duct, said material having sound absorptive characteristics inthe audio frequency range below 5,000 cycles per second so that exhaustnoise directed thereagainst is attenuated.
 2. In combination: a highway;detector means for detecting a predetermined pollutant level at a pointalong said highway; display means positioned above said highway surface;said display means coupled to said detector means and responsive theretowhen said predetermined pollutant level is detected by said detectormeans; and, wherein said detector means comprises a plurality ofdetectors positioned below the surface of said highway, each of saidplurality of detectors positioned respectively in a plurality of ductsections of predetermined length extending consecutively along thelength of the highway,
 3. In combination in the surface of a lane of ahighway: first means extending above the surface and along the length ofthe highway; second means extending above the surface and along thelength of th highway; a depression extending below said highway surfaceand extending between said first and second meAns; said depressionarranged to run off water gathering on said highway surface between saidfirst and second means; said first and second means extending less than1 inch above said highway surface and the cross sectional area of saiddepression is greater than the cross sectional area of said first andsecond means combined; and, said first means comprising a wall extendingabove said highway surface, said second means comprising a further wallextending above said highway surface, and said depression comprising aduct having outer wall surfaces coextensive with the inner facing wallsurfaces of said first and second means.
 4. The combination according toclaim 3 wherein said first means, said second means and said depressionsare of substantially rectangular cross section.
 5. The combination ofclaim 3 wherein said depression extends a first predetermined distancebelow said highway surface and said first and second means extend afurther predetermined distance above said highway surface and whereinsaid further predetermined distance is less than said firstpredetermined distance.
 6. The combination of claim 3 wherein said firstmeans, said second means and said depression extend along axis parallelto the lane of said highway and at least a car length therealong where acar length equals 20 feet.